


Home Ice

by cowboynperil



Category: Men's Hockey RPF
Genre: F/M, I'm Still An Emotional Wreck, Other, Self-Angst, Self-Reflection, not as bad as it could have been
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-02
Updated: 2020-07-02
Packaged: 2021-03-05 03:22:38
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,184
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25027654
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cowboynperil/pseuds/cowboynperil
Summary: The arena still loves him.
Relationships: Marc-Andre Fleury/PPG Paints Arena, Marc-Andre Fleury/Veronique Fleury
Comments: 4
Kudos: 17
Collections: Pucking Rare - A Hockey Rarepair Challenge





	Home Ice

**Author's Note:**

  * In response to a prompt by Anonymous in the [PuckingRare2020](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/PuckingRare2020) collection. 



> **Prompt:**
> 
> Marc-Andre Fleury/PPG Paints
> 
> Well, this probably wasn't what you were expecting but I'm still emotional so.....
> 
> (mistakes are mine this is unbeta'd)

Some arenas can really have an effect on a player. 

The history of Joe Louis, the stardom of Madison Square, the freshness of T-Mobile, the electricity of Amalie, some arenas just feel different. It makes it worse if you know your record or have vivid memories of a playoff loss in that building, but most of the time players can keep those feelings under wraps. 

This is a new feeling for Marc-Andre. He’s finally back home. 

T-Mobile may be the Knights arena, but PPG still feels comforting even in an enemy uniform. 

He started his career in Pittsburgh and wanted to end it here after many long seasons and cup wins, but nothing ever goes to plan. Mellon, Civic, Consol Energy, PPG Paints, whatever you want to call the arena, this is home - was home. 

Marc-Andre didn’t want to get sentimental, he has been for months at this point after he became the sacrificial lamb for the team. He wouldn’t have had it any other way since the thought of one of the other guys getting shipped off to Vegas makes him hurt. He knows the team and the guys deserve the best and he gave it to them the only way he could, one last time. 

Playing in the arena made him feel like a rookie again - nervous and unsure of where the locker room was. Logically he knows he’s a visitor, but his muscle memory kicks in once he steps foot in the building, and he goes straight for the Penguins room. Marc-Andre catches himself before he opens the door but it wouldn't have mattered since he was here even earlier than Sid and the rest of the guys.

Don’t get him wrong, Marc-Andre loves his team of misfit boys but he grew up with the Pens and feels like he fathered half of them at this point. He has bonded with the Knights better than he thought, but nothing beats the chemistry between Marc-Andre, Tanger, Sid, and Geno. 

Would it be the same if he ever came back? Would he ever come back home?

He continues his walk down memory lane past the locker room and into the kitchen to make a snack. Marc-Andre is no Sidney, but he has his quirks about pre-game food so he keeps it simple like always. 

No one else is really in the building, he said hello to the doorman that’s been working for the Penguins since Jagr was in diapers, but hasn’t seen anyone since. Dana is probably here by now so Marc-Andre should go see how he’s doing with the team’s weird ass requests, he misses that man’s attention to detail. 

When he’s done with his snack, Marc-Andre cleans up and goes to put his bag in the visitors locker room. It sounds wrong, being in the visitors room during the season in Pittsburgh. He’s gotten used to the rhythm and heartbeat of the arena and this just screws everything up.

Marc-Andre is supposed to be home, right? Isn’t that what PPG Paints was meant to be?

If you asked him on any other day where his home is he would say Vero; he would follow that woman anywhere just to be there and hold her hand. Vero knew this road trip would be a tough one, but Marc-Andre doesn’t think she could have helped prepare him for this emotional roller coaster. 

It feels like the arena is guiding him, pushing him along to the other locker room while he gets lost in his thoughts since he doesn’t remember making all the turns to get here. He’s always had a soft spot for his home rink, even back in juniors with Cape Breton. Marc-Andre just knows he can do anything and everything at home with his boys and the fans behind him. The fresh-faced Knights fans have gotten the hang of chants and showing love, but T-Mobile just doesn’t feel the same. 

Marc-Andre didn’t think he would miss PPG Paints this much but he’s basically lived in the building for a decade and that’s a long time to be stationary especially for a hockey player. He feels calm for the first time in a few months. After his concussion and the wheel of goalies they had to use while he was out, he’s felt physically fine but on edge about every move he’s made on and off the ice. He has never been the one to worry about his body, but that was because he knew his boys could take the reins until he was ready to come back. It’s not that he doesn’t believe in his new team but he just didn’t know how long the Cinderella Magic would last. 

Being in PPG makes him feel like that magic will never run out, like he’s on the Pens again. Even with their countless playoff losses, they came back year after year with their fans behind them to play for Lord Stanley’s cup. Marc-Andre isn’t a sentimentalist but there was something special here on this team and in this building. The rotating cast of characters throughout the seasons somehow always clicked and made this place feel alive, like it was the glue that kept the team together even during those painful stretches of losing. 

As he keeps thinking about games gone by and this building he still wants to call home, Marc-Andre unpacks his bag and organizes his stall. It feels like a movie how the memories flash in his mind, of all the pranks in this arena and all the heartbreak and excitement from the past decade. He doesn’t know how it happens but by the time he shakes himself from his thoughts he’s shed a few tears. 

He has definitely cried more about sillier things, but at least no one is here to see. It’s difficult to think he has to face the guys he’s been with for so long, in an arena he loves more than anything. Being in the visitors locker room is hard enough, but coming out on the other side of the ice? Playing on the opposite side of the ice? He doesn’t remember it being this hard when he played against them at T-Mobile.

Even if he loses, even if they put up 10 goals, even if he gets pulled in the middle of the game he knows the guys will have his back. Marc-Andre knows this building will comfort him like it did so many times before and like he thought it would for years to come. After collecting himself he decides to leave the room and find Dana and the boys to cheer himself up. It’s not that he’s sad, of course he would rather be a Penguin, but the arena just seems to be amplifying all of his emotions. 

Marc-Andre keeps walking down the halls to the equipment room and home locker room like he did for so long, but this is different. This time he’s the visitor, but he doesn’t feel like one. He feels like he’s back home - back where he belongs at PPG. 

Some arenas can really leave a mark.

**Author's Note:**

> if you wanted a funny fic uh sorry about that but i'm sure i could make a part two where it gets a little,, weird


End file.
